Twitter suspends, reactivates 'NYT On It' account after Times complaint

11/20/12 9:26 AM EST

Twitter has now restored the popular New York Times parody account it suspended on Monday after the Times filed a complaint against it.

Benjamin Kabak, the 29-year-old lawyer behind the account, told POLITICO that Twitter reenabled the account Tuesday morning but threatened him with permanent deletion if they receive another complaint. Kabak removed the account avatar, the reason for the Times' complaint, and is opening a design contest to replace the canned icon.

The @NYTOnIt account — which pokes fun at some lifestyle and trend stories in the Times — had over 20,000 followers prior to its suspension and is known for tweets such as this one from Nov. 13: “GUYS, there are *gasp* fake profiles on Facebook, and The Times is ON IT. http://nyti.ms/TDt1ut ". The Twitter bio read: “Because sometimes stories in newspapers are just *that* obvious." It also now includes the added statement, "This is a parody account clearly not associated with any newspaper."

“Twitter has suspended my account over a claim from The Times that my avatar violates a trademark,” Kabak wrote Monday night on The Times Is On It Facebook page. “I say fair use. Right now, I'm waiting for Twitter to process my request to fix the problem so I can get the account reenabled. But feel free to spread the word over how the country's largest newspaper feels threatened by a small Twitter account right now.”

Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy wrote in an e-mail to POLITICO on Tuesday that “this is not about feeling ‘threatened.’”

“We did file a complaint with Twitter and it is our understanding that they have suspended this account for a violation of Twitter's terms of service,” Murphy wrote. “This is not about feeling ‘threatened.’ However, it is important to The Times that our copyright is protected and that it is clear to all users of Twitter that parody accounts or other unofficial Times accounts are not affiliated nor endorsed by The Times.”

Murphy wrote in a follow-up email to clarify that "this is really a trademark issue, not a copyright issue. My earlier note used copyright where I should have said trademark."

Kabak also noted on Facebook that “I have filed an appeal with Twitter so I may remove the materials they claim are problematic.”

“They say, ‘We are usually able to respond within a few days, but some issues may take longer.’ A few days for something that isn't actually legally infringing seems particularly egregious. We'll see how long that takes," he wrote.

Kabak told POLITICO he had gotten a “heads-up” email from someone on Monday that the Times was likely to file a complaint with Twitter. He then posted a message asking that anyone who felt he was doing something wrong with the account contact him offline so he could deal with the situation. Kabak, however, later received an email from Twitter that his account was “temporarily suspended.” Kabak said he immediately replied to the email saying he wanted to correct the situation, but noted that although he could sign into his account, he could not make any of the changes Twitter said he needed to make regarding the avatar.

Kabak said a few people at the Times “who know I am behind the account and have been fans of it for a while” reached out to him after the suspension, but he said he was not contacted directly by anyone in the legal department at the Times.

Kabak, who said he started the account on a "whim" last summer after making jokes on his personal Twitter about certain lifestyle stories in the paper, said his dealings with Twitter and the Times left him unimpressed with the respective ways they handled his situation.

"I think this is not a particularly great reflection on the Times’ process or Twitter’s process because it’s not particularly transparent," Kabak told POLITICO just moments before the account was restored. "They pulled down the account without really finding out the information from me."

The item was updated at 10:30 a.m. to reflect that the account was reactivated.